Control apparatus



"s. mnoon's. comm APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED' JAN. l0. I917.

1,384,452.. Patenfied July 12, 1921.

w|TNEssEs= INVENTOR 6146M Samuel/2 Dada/5,

' 3 A'i'TORNEY SAMUEL n. nonns, or, winxmsnnns, rnnnsirlvanilx, iassrenon rovvnsrins-i' sn nm; H

Toall wkomz'tmayconcern: i

Be it known that I, SAMUEL R.;Donns, a citizen of the. United States, and a resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county,v of Allegheny and State oflPennsylvania, have, invented a new and useful Improvement. in Control Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification. a X

My invention relates to control apparatus and. especially to control fingers that are adapted for engagement with controllers of the drum type and the like;

The object of my. invention is toprovlde a relatively simple and compact device ofithe above-indicated character "for elfectively and reliably producing aresilient contact pressure upon the segments of a control drum, wherebysuitable allowances for unavoidable variations in. the dimensions of manufactured parts and slight inaccurac es in assembly are compensated for,:,wh1le maintaining, at all times, a desirable contact pressure between the current-carrying parts. l .1 i a v .More specifically stated, it is the object of my invention to provide a self-alimng or self-adjusting control finger having in dependent yielding or resilient mechanical connections between the finger shank or body member and the stationary supporting member and also between the shank and the contact tip.

My invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of a control drum, and of a control finger constructed in accordance with my present invention; and Fig. 2 is a view, in front elevation, of the control finger that is shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the apparatus shown comprises a rotatable control drum 1 of any well-known type, which carries a plurality of contact segments 2 that are adapted to be engaged by any suitable number of my control fingers 3, which are mounted upon a stationary finger-base or block 4. of insulating material, in accordance with the customary practice.

The control finger 3 comprises a supporting member or base 7 of conducting material that is rigidly mounted upon the finger-block 4 by means of suitable screws 8, or the like; a body member or shank 9 that is pivotally mounted at 10 upon the supporting member 7; and a contact tip 11 t at is Specification ofLetters fatentl HOUSE ntno'rnro 41 n mnnnrfncrnnme co arnivy, a CORPQRATION or rnmv shank 9, whereby a free rotative movement of the shank 9,,with respect tovthe support-v ing member 7 ispermitted for purposes of initial adjustmentiof position. 1

' The supporting member 7 's alsov provided with an ,outwa-rdlyeextending ear or lug 15 through the free end of which a bolt l6 extends, said bolt being. threaded into the shank9.

UNITED TEI tA NT OFFICE p p PatentedjJnly 1212921.

Application filed'lanuary 10, 1917. Seri'al No. 141,725. r i

'pivotally mounted upon the1shank 9 through the agency lofa. pin orpivot 12. i i

an aperture or chamber of the supporting A loopedl'or U-sha-ped spring, memben17 has both itsarms mounted upon the :bolt

16 to respectively bear against the lug 15and the shanky91 The head 18 of the bolt 16'is provided with. a plurality of transverse slots, and a bent wire or similarmember 19, having one end rigidly secured to the; inner endjofrthelug 15, is positioned in one ofjthe slots inthe bolt-head 18 for the purqposeioflockingthe bolt; in the desired position. Thus, the shank 9 is resiliently associated with the supporting member 7 within the limits of movement of the threads of the bolt 16.

For the purpose of providing a suitable electrical connection to an external circuit, a headless bolt 20 is secured to the supporting member 7, and a terminal member 21, of a familiar type, is mounted upon the bolt 1 20 and is rigidly attached to the supporting member 7 through the agency of a plurality of nuts 22.

The outer or free end of the shank 9 terminates in two substantially parallel arms 25 and 26 that extend approximately at right angles to the adjacent portion of the shank. The pivot or pin 12 extends through suitable openings in the arms 25 and 26, which openings are preferably somewhat larger 7 than the diameter of the pin 12 to permit a H a cotter-pin 28, or the like, whereby the contact tip 11 may be readily and, quickly ,removed and renewed;

A second U-shaped 'fi'at spring member 29 is located behind the contact tip ll to bearthereupon in a transverse direction to the;

fiagainst the contact tip 11; Thus, the spring member 29 is free to exert resilientpressure "openings in the shank arms and 26, while,

upon the contact tip and bias it to the outermost position that is permitted by the relative sizes of the pin 12andthe-corresponding at the same time, the spring membermay be readily assembledor renewed.

I have thus provided a relatively simple and compact self-adjusting control finger,

the shank therefor-having a resilient me-' chanical connection withboth'the supporting or base member Tand the contact tip 11 in L- supporting member, shank pivotally mounted thereon andmterminatinglin two a order to meet the previously-described manufacturing or operatingconditions.

'I do not wish to be restricted to the speeific structural details or arrangement of "parts herein set forth, as various modifications' thereof maybe efiected without departingfromthe spirit and scope'of my invention." 7 I desire, therefore, th'at only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicatedin the appended]cl aims'.-* a

' I claim as my invention? i f 1. A control finger having fashankterminating in two arms extending at substantially right angles thereto," a one-piece contact tipremovably and pivotally mounted withinsaidarms, anda U-shaped spring member extending substantially fparallel to the pivotal axis andhavin' coneaiimfdetachspaced arms, a one-piecezcontact' tip pivotally mountedwithin said arms, resilientmeans located intermediate said arms and bearing upon sa1d t 1p, andother resilient means, acta mg between a Supporting member and said shank. r e

4; A-control fingerIhaviIig a stationary spaced arms, a one-piece contact tip pivotally mounted within said arms, a Ushaped spring member 7 having one arm secured: to said shank and having 1tS-JOtl1GT arm-bearspectively bearing against said supporting member. v v i In testimony whereof, I have hereunto sub scribed my name this 27th day of'Dec. 1916.

'saMunL ninonns 

